


The Mistletoe

by eiramrelyat



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29679474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eiramrelyat/pseuds/eiramrelyat
Summary: Response to prompt: Everlark kissing under the mistletoe.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Seasons of Everlark— Winter 2020-2021





	The Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [askclato](https://archiveofourown.org/users/askclato/gifts).



Katniss hated parties, specifically Gale's. They were always loud and crowded to the point where you couldn't move or think. And she knew this one would be worse considering college students were out on Christmas break.

She'd made every excuse not to go, even as Madge pulled her onto her pink vanity chair and started curling her hair. Madge quickly pointed out that college boys would be attending. Not that Katniss really cared about what percentage of Panem's male population would be there.

Except, she kind of did care, but only about one boy in particular. 

"Peeta will be there," Madge had suggested, making eye contact with her in the mirror.

Of course, her friend would use this as leverage.

But Peeta would never actually notice her. He was a college sophomore and popular. And unlike all of the other girls she typically saw flocked around him, Katniss felt too plain…and she clammed up in large social settings. They were more like Madge⎯pretty, outgoing, and most likely on the cheer squad. He probably didn't even know her name, even though they had shared the same homeroom period for three years.

So, the extra attention Madge took to Katniss's hair and outfit almost felt like a waste.

She parked her car in front of Gale's house and waited as Madge applied a second coat of shiny gloss to her lips in the small visor mirror. It made her lips look overly wet to the point that it almost looked like they were covered in drool. And when Katniss told her this, Madge merely rolled her eyes and said it was part of her look⎯whatever that meant. She wasn't dressed any differently than usual, aside from the low-cut cashmere sweater clinging to her upper half like a second skin.

Madge never did things in halves.

"Don't you think this is a bit... excessive?" she asked while Madge touched up her blush. "You already know that half of the football team at school likes you."

"I think you are over-exaggerating," Madge said, snapping the visor closed before tossing her makeup into her purse. "Okay, ready?"

"We can still go back and watch Christmas movies like we've been doing for the past six years," Katniss said as a last-ditch effort.

Madge turned in her seat to give Katniss an incredulous expression. "This will be our first college party! Don't you want to know what they're like?"

"Yeah, when we're in college," she grumbled. "We're still seniors in high school. Surely, five months isn't that long of a wait."

"C'mon, Katniss," Madge pouted. "Please, just this once?"

She hated when Madge used that face on her.

"Fine, but I don't want to be there too long," Katniss relented, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the car door.

She tugged on the sleeves of her sweater as they walked up the front porch steps of Gale's house. The bass from the music inside thrummed under her boots, stirring something sour in her stomach. Gale greeted them at the door, his booming voice echoing through the front yard. He stepped aside for them to step into the entryway, and Katniss froze slightly when she saw who was standing behind him.

Peeta smiled at them, a simple flash of perfect white teeth that made her breath stutter. And if his beautiful smile wasn't enough, the dark green button-up stretching across the broad expanse of his chest rendered her mute.

Katniss pretended to be busy, herself, tapping the snow off her boots to distract herself from gawking at him.

"I can't believe you managed to pull Katniss away from her books and reindeer slippers," Gale told Madge with a laugh. Her friend giggled, shrugging her shoulders, and Katniss felt her face growing hot.

"Shut up, you two," she snapped, inadvertently making eye contact with Peeta, who gave her a small smile.

"Reindeer slippers?" he asked with interest, and Katniss couldn't tell if he was teasing her. Furthermore, she couldn't believe he was even talking to her.

"They were a gift," she mumbled.

The smile on Peeta's lips grew. "That's cute."

Katniss smiled nervously, unable to hold his gaze. "Uh, thank you."

"Let's get you ladies something to drink," Gale said, then tossed his arms across her and Madge's shoulders, leading them toward his cramped kitchen, Peeta trailing not far behind. 

"Gale, you're squishing my hair," Madge grumbled and swatted at his hand to get him to remove his arm.

"What? I think it still looks great," he told her, and Katniss didn't miss the light hint of pink that colored Madge's cheeks. Her friends' relationship with each other always managed to confuse her. 

They dated when Gale was still in high school, and then they had a mutual break-up when he left for college because Madge didn't want a long-distance relationship. But ever since he moved back home last year, Katniss noticed that Madge seemed to spend a lot of time with him again. For a while, she thought they were back together. Then she saw Gale posting cringey photos with a girl on Instagram a few weeks ago⎯she hadn't been able to erase the image of Gale's tongue in that girl's mouth from her brain since. Katniss wouldn't be shocked if Madge's whole college boy thing was just a ruse to make Gale jealous. In fact, it seemed exactly like the type of thing her friend would do.

Truthfully, though, it sounded like a lot of work to go through to get someone to notice you, but who was she to judge? She curled her hair⎯which she never did⎯and actually tried wearing something other than her tattered denim jacket and black jeans just so Peeta might talk to her.

Still, she thought her friends were acting like idiots.

In the kitchen, stacks of pizza boxes lined the counter, along with bottles and cans of alcohol in multiple varieties. You would never know that Gale was hosting a holiday-themed party if it wasn't for the pitiful-looking mistletoe hanging above the sink by a piece of duct tape. Katniss couldn't say that she was surprised, to say the least. 

And leave it to Gale to showcase his lack of decorating skills.

Peeta opened the fridge, flicking his eyes toward them. "We have Coke or water. Pick your poison."

"That's okay. I'm having whatever is in the punch bowl." Madge nodded toward a bowl on the counter filled with a green concoction, and Gale reached up into a cupboard to grab a red solo cup.

"Your parents will kill me if they find out I gave you alcohol," Gale muttered to her.

Then Peeta looked over at Katniss. "And you?" Under his stare, Katniss flushed, fumbling over her words when she asked for the Coke. Peeta crouched down to pull open the bottom fridge drawer for a can, then he held it out to her. "Here you go." Katniss stepped away from Gale's side, grabbing it from him and blushing when their finger touched.

She tried not to make a big show out of it, even if it made her heart rate spike. "Thank you," she told him, pushing her hair behind her ear. This earned her another one of his beautiful smiles. God, she was so pathetic.

Forty minutes went by, and Katniss found it easier to talk to Peeta⎯not that she gave more than a few one-syllable answers. Still, her heart no longer leaped in her throat when he'd turn and ask her a question, nor did she clam up when he decided to stand next to her. But, of course, Madge had to ruin the moment.

"Oh, look, you're both under the mistletoe," she said, words slightly slurred as she tilted her cup toward the dainty thing above their heads.

Peeta looked up in the direction Madge was pointing, blond curls sliding off his forehead from the angle. Katniss took that moment to glare at her friend, who knew all too well about her crush on Peeta, then glanced over at him. "Uh, it's just a plant. You don't have to do anything," she told him shyly.

He regarded her with amusement, his mouth tilting up. "Did you know refusing a kiss under the mistletoe is bad luck?"

"Oh?" She wanted to cringe when her voice broke from nerves, though she wasn't quite expecting him to play along with Madge.

Peeta leaned against the counter. "Yeah, but it might only be a superstition. Like when Gale wears polka dot underwear to help his football team win," he said, shrugging. "Who knows."

"Hey," Gale said, frowning. 

As if Peeta didn’t already think she was daft, she said, "Oh. I, um...Oh." It made it worse that Madge and Gale were watching her make a fool of herself, and she really wanted to tell them to go away.

The look of embarrassment on her face made Peeta shake his head, chuckling to himself. "You don't have to kiss me. I was only joking, Katniss."

"Mellark! Hawthorne! We're starting a game of flip cup⎯if you want to join?"

They all looked toward the threshold to the kitchen where a stocky redhead with a plastic cup stood. He tilted back whatever was inside and tossed it in a garbage bag that hung off of a kitchen drawer, then waved at them.

"I'm in," Gale called back, pulling Madge along behind him. "Come on, Peet!"

Peeta turned, nodding at Gale. "I'll be right there. Give me a sec."

Her friends were gone; now was her chance. "Okay," she told him, pushing her bangs out of her face. "I'll kiss you."

He smiled down at her. "Katniss, really, you don’t have to."

“I want to,” she said, hoping that she sounded more confident than she felt.

He raised an eyebrow, studying her face for any hesitation. When he found none, his hand came up and gently caressed her jaw. “Okay,” Peeta finally agreed and tilted her face to the side. 

But Katniss was disappointed once she realized he wasn’t going to give her a _real_ kiss like she’d anticipated...and the bold part of her didn’t want to settle with anything less. So when Peeta started to lean in, she turned her head before he could reach her cheek and pressed her lips against his. She closed her eyes tightly when she heard him gasp⎯too scared to look at his face at that moment.

It felt like they were like that forever; her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as Peeta didn’t move to initiate anything further. Embarrassed, she pulled away, but his fingers held her fast, and then his lips moved beneath hers. She managed a soft, quick inhale while her stomach rippled in excitement. Oh god, Peeta Mellark was kissing her back. She'd probably squeal if her mouth wasn't otherwise preoccupied. 

His hand came up and ran through her hair, causing her to squeak in surprise. It wasn't her first kiss (the first time was with a boy from eighth grade who she couldn't remember the name of at the moment), but it was the first that made her light-headed and had her toes curling in her boots. 

When he pulled away, she bit the inside of her cheek at the sight of how dark and swollen his lips were. She released a shaky breath, knowing she was the one who did that.

He flashed her a crooked smile. "You know, I like it when you wear your hair down."

Her throat felt tight all of a sudden. "I…um, thank you."

"I better go before Gale comes back," he said, and Katniss nodded her head dumbly. She watched him walk out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Katniss wasn't sure what shocked her more—that Peeta had actually noticed her during homeroom, or that she could still faintly feel his soft lips against hers.


End file.
